Pardon the blasphemy, and apologies go out to the Surefire junkies, but why are surefire lights so highly regarded? they don't appear to have the horsepower of other lights, nor do they appear to have the long runtimes. please help me see the light (no pun intended)!!
why is Surefire lights so highly regarded?
- Thread starter vio765
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
- Status
They are highly regarded because they are very well made. However, the most important factor is that they have the best great marketing department in the flashlight industry that pays worthless writers from gun rags a lot of money to print very favorable reviews. In addition, they sells it to leo and military for a extremely low price in order to be able to say they are THE supplier for these people. While Surefire is an exception, I often avoid buying things that are mil-spec or meet mil-standard because these specs and standards are often created by idiots and met by the lowest bidders. Again, Surefire is a rare exception because they make great flashlight. I prefer Maglites because they are much cheaper and serve my needs just fine. Until Surefire get rid of its G2 incandescent and charge the same price for its G2 LED, I won't be owning any surefire. A G2 LED should be $39 and not $69 for a 80 lumen flashlight. All technology products go down in price, I like to see Surefire lowering its price on entry lights if it wants to expand its customer base. Then again, they and their customers can be a bunch of elitists so they probably only going to increase the price.
Armed_Forces
Enlightened
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2008
- Messages
- 488
What is it with these "Surefire" threads?!
I call BS/trolling.
@OP,
I mean WTF, after being a member here for nearly two(!) years, you felt like making a thread like this?
Have you somehow missed ALL the previous drama?
Use the friggin' search engine for Christ's sake. This is getting ridiculous.
/sigh
I call BS/trolling.
@OP,
I mean WTF, after being a member here for nearly two(!) years, you felt like making a thread like this?
Have you somehow missed ALL the previous drama?
Use the friggin' search engine for Christ's sake. This is getting ridiculous.
/sigh
They were the first high quality lights...well in my opinion. They had a shock absorber system...important when they were all hotwires. They ran on rare batteries that packed 3 volts into a small package...making them very bright for there size. They had/have thick bodies that are durable. The advertised them as being tactical...with pic`s of swat teams or military using them.
That said they were shockingly slow to adopt LEDs....even after leds became competetivly bright AND DID NOT BURN OUT. Finally they had to go with the flow.
Today I`m not sure if the super high quality is still there...so many reports of mis-matched colors...off centered leds...finger prints on the inside of the lenses...and switch failures. But they still have thick bodies. And a great catologe with cool swat team guy`s in the pic`s. Their still slow to adopt...improve...and they still look great.
That said they were shockingly slow to adopt LEDs....even after leds became competetivly bright AND DID NOT BURN OUT. Finally they had to go with the flow.
Today I`m not sure if the super high quality is still there...so many reports of mis-matched colors...off centered leds...finger prints on the inside of the lenses...and switch failures. But they still have thick bodies. And a great catologe with cool swat team guy`s in the pic`s. Their still slow to adopt...improve...and they still look great.
Dude Dudeson
Enlightened
Being generally distrustful of Big Business I won't say this is impossible, but I'd like to see some kind of proof of this if you have any.
That's a pretty serious allegation you're making there...
That said, I'll agree that a Surefire is probably overkill for most people - but then probably 80% of what CPF'ers own is too.
I'm just gonna quote that and save myself the effort.
Well he`s not a very active member...only 27 posts...but I do see a quick end to this thread
How long can our members go without a heated debate...I give it less than one page. But lately I have been surprised...touchy threads have been handled pretty well...maybe this one will be too 
Roberts30
Enlightened
lol, agreedOh yea here we go...less than one page till shutdown
Outdoors Fanatic
Flashlight Enthusiast
Illum
Flashaholic
highly regarded?
really?
how?
I don't know what your talking about
Highly valued yes because of their price
Used with confidence yes because of its low breakdown rate
Highly regarded as to what? its relative to the individual in question, not applied to an absolute rule.
really?
how?
I don't know what your talking about
Highly valued yes because of their price
Used with confidence yes because of its low breakdown rate
Highly regarded as to what? its relative to the individual in question, not applied to an absolute rule.
jp2515
Flashlight Enthusiast
I agree! Threads like this start off innocent but don't end well.
My 2cents:
There are many choices for lights and if you don't like brand (__) then you can vote with your wallet and take your business elsewhere
Yucca Patrol
Enlightened
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2008
- Messages
- 954
IB4TL. . . .LOL
Haven't had a chance to do that in a while. . . .
Haven't had a chance to do that in a while. . . .
Roberts30
Enlightened
+1highly regarded?
really?
how?
I don't know what your talking about
Highly valued yes because of their price
Used with confidence yes because of its low breakdown rate
Highly regarded as to what? its relative to the individual in question, not applied to an absolute rule.
Everyone who isn't blinded by the gun hobby knows that gun rags writers are paid major dollars to write flawless review on guns. Most magazines, not just gun rags, are quite cheap because it is the adverting that pay their salary; they only charge use for shipping. That is why it generally only cost a dollar or 2 for most magazine out there. The more magazines they sell, the more money they can charge the companies advertising with them. On top of that, companies pay them a lot of money for favorable reviews. Actually, all gun reviews in gun rags are favorable. Last but not least, whenever a custom gun maker is mentioned as a friend or a friend of a friend and he happens to be a great custom maker that specialized in certain firearms, we can rest assure that this friend or friend of a friend pays handsomely to have his unique skill published to the audiences that will most likely buy if they have the mean. When it comes to high end hobbies, which guns and flashlights fall under, advertisement and product endorsement is the backbone of the business. I am surprise you weren't aware of such dealing.
Again, Surefire is a great manufacture but I don't think their products are worth the money for what I do. However, if I am a SAR professional, I will go with them as well as one or two other top dollar brands for flashlight needs. The reason is rather simple as these tools would be the cheapest but most profitable investment for that line of work. To put it into perspective, I'd be looking at spending less than $1000 for 3 or 4 lights from two or three top dollars makers and these lights would have no bs warranty unlike Fenix and 4Seven, which requires me to keep a receipt and be the original purchaser from 4Seven. I would use these lights and if they do break, I would get a new one, possibly a upgraded version, free of charge. For the people who depend on their lights for living, this is a very cheap option. For 99% of the people in the world as well as those on CPF, it is a luxury we can opt out of. For me, Maglites serve me just fine and also come with lifetime warranty, which I never had to utilize.
I personally would not buy a Fenix and definitely not through 4Seven until they modify their warranty policy. If I buy from 4Seven, they should have my name and address to charge me money and to send me the product. Why in the world would I need to keep a receipt years and years later, assuming their products last that long? In addition, if their products are so great, why would the warranty applies only to the original purchaser. That is the same thing as saying that all lights should be bought new. If they don't want to deal with too much legacy cost, aka cost of having to warranty a product years after selling it, they should have a 5, 10, or 15 years warranty, which goes by the serial number of the product and not worry about who bought it where and when. This is why I prefer Craftsmen products from Sears; if something goes wrong I take it back and get a new one. I have many tools from Sears and have not utilize the warranty yet. Sears knows that they have to make/re-badge tough products or they would go bankrupted with high legacy cost.
Last edited:
Woods Walker
The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
No blasphemy and yes I have several SureFires. The best way to answer this is buy a couple from B/S/T and check it out for yourself. You can be your own judge. If you don't like them, great. Usually they sell pretty quickly here. Report your findings or do a review. That's the best answer IMO. :tinfoil:
DimeRazorback
Flashlight Enthusiast
IB4L :twothumbs
SureFire G2 is one of the best lights ever created. Why? Because 10 of my LEO buddies swear by them. How many more countless one use it? A lot. What does this mean? Lots of freaking money for SureFire and lots of happy customers.
To answer the OP. Because they work.
It's very simple and people over complicate it. When you want a light that is going to work, more people turn to SF.
To answer the OP. Because they work.
It's very simple and people over complicate it. When you want a light that is going to work, more people turn to SF.
This forum has too much rule. Why is so wrong about just venting around? Is CPF worrying about being light-whipped by the companies that advertise here? Everyone knows that for every guy not biting the Surefire bait, there will be at least 5 guys in line to take his place because everyone want to be like rent-a-cop or actor commando they see in gun rags. By the way, most people wearing uniforms in gun rags aren't really leos or military, not active any way as that is against government policy to appear supporting a product in a commercial setting. It is definitely not alright to take money for that either. Guys like Patrick Sweeney don't count as they are volunteer leo who only do paper work behind the desk. He aren't suppose to be wearing that badge while doing non-public duty either.
- Status
